


Goodbye Mr Smith

by Basmathgirl



Series: The Tale of Mr & Mrs Smith [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Awkwardness, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-02 16:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4066909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmathgirl/pseuds/Basmathgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a modern re-working of Human Nature/Family of Blood, Donna meets up with the Doctor as Mr John Smith in the comprehensive school where he works.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** these don’t belong to me in any shape or form; but they do say ‘write what you know’. I’ll blame my migraines for foisting this idea on me.  
>  **A/N:** I thought I'd already posted this story on here. Oops!

Donna looked at the latest information from the temp agency. ‘Oh goody!’ she thought sarcastically. It was for a work placement in a school, just the sort of place she didn’t want to be back in. Still, it was a job that would fill a few weeks while some office woman coped with a bad illness.

What worked in this placement’s favour was that the school was out of town, so it meant travelling against the commuter traffic, making travelling to work a possible joy. Working with kids might mean that this would be the highlight of her day; the travel.

She was greeted by the office manager, Tilly, who made her feel instantly welcome; and handed her lists of staff and children to replicate for various people and departments. Now this Donna could cope with! So she went off humming as she tackled the photocopier.

As she punched various buttons and made the copier sing she noticed from the lists that there were a few new members of staff joining at the same time as her, two of whom were apparently filling in for staff on maternity leave. It was a relief to know that she wasn’t the only person who was new there. 

Part of her duties was to be an administrative assistant to a couple of faculties throughout the week as they each were entitled to at least one day’s help from someone. Her first day was with the history department. “Just go up to room 306 and they’ll explain everything,” Tilly told her.

Blimey, her first real encounter with a teacher since she had left school! Donna tried not to be nervous about it as she bounded enthusiastically up the stairs. Room 306 wasn’t too hard to find, but no one was in there, so she walked further down the corridor until she saw a body through the window of any particular door. 

Knocking courteously, she stepped in and saw a lone, well-dressed, dark haired man sitting at the desk. “Is this history?” she immediately enquired.

“Yes,” he cautiously replied.

“Then I’m all yours for whatever you want,” she declared, pointing at herself. She hadn’t expected him to instantly blush a deep red.

“Pardon!” he eventually stammered out as he managed to stand up; but it looked as though it had been a trial. “Mine?”

“Ah! Are you the new girl?” a voice behind her asked.

Donna turned to see a middle-aged man dressed in a charcoal suit, with thinning grey hair and small round glasses. “Well, I think the label ‘girl’ is pushing it a bit, but I’m here to lend a helping hand with your paperwork,” she replied, grinning broadly. “I’m Donna, by the way. Donna Noble.”

The man eagerly shook her hand. “I’m Graham Chapman, head of department, and our flustered friend here is John Smith. He’s only just started here too.” He watched as Donna and John exchanged greetings. “Come to think of it, you should have met up by now. How remiss of me! I normally have a little ‘welcome to the department’ meal at my house, so are you two up for it sometime this weekend?” His expectant gaze was swept between the pair of them.

“I’m free the whole weekend, so I suppose it’s up to Mr Smith here,” Donna answered when John continued to look unsure.

“Well... I… that is… I suppose… Yes, I’m free any time this weekend,” he stammered out.

The poor bloke! Donna instantly felt sorry for him and resolved to help him conquer his shyness. 

“In that case let’s make it Friday night,” Graham decided. “Now if you would follow me, Donna, I’ll show you were everything is.”

John just stood there as they whooshed back out of his classroom. Blimey! That had been unexpected. It wasn’t every day that a tall, ginger woman thrust herself into your room and offered her services; even if they were of the administrative variety. Or especially if they were of the administrative variety. It had taken him completely by surprise. The combination of lovely long ginger hair and intense brownish blue eyes had captivated him for a moment and he hadn’t been able to say a word; not a word! What had come over him? And what on earth would his friend Martha say? Should he even tell her? He decided that for the time being he would keep this to himself.

It would be strange not to see her for most of the day, as Martha was set up in the science department over in the other block on the separate campus. He had wondered if he’d be lonely without her, but the appearance of Donna might be more than compensation for that.

 

The following morning he found himself practising say ‘hello’ in the mirror after he had brushed his teeth in his bathroom, for when he met Donna later that day. Well, he hoped he would meet her that day. He resolved that he would make sure he did if she wasn’t timetabled for their department again that week. There was even a bit of playing about with his hair as he said the word before giving up in frustration. Why would she even look at him after all?

It was just after lesson three that he saw her striding down a corridor and positioned himself to ‘accidentally’ meet her. “Hello Miss Noble!” he called out as cheerily as he could as she neared him.

She immediately recognised him and beamed back. “Hello Mr Smith! How are you today?” she greeted him.

He was slightly distracted as a year seven caught him of balance as they tried to get by. “Oh, fine, you know. And how are you?” he asked in return, and leaned in towards her to hear her answer.

She giggled as a large year eleven politely asked, “Excuse me!” as he tried to get through a doorway and passed them. 

“Oops! We’re holding up the traffic!” she exclaimed, and moved nearer to him to get out of the way. “So…” She noted he wasn’t saying anything again, just looking at her expectantly. “Perhaps we can meet later for that coffee.” She then stepped purposefully away from him and headed back down the corridor.

“What coffee?!” he called after her in confusion, but all she did was smirk at him before continuing on her way.

“Careful, sir. You’ll catch flies with your mouth open like that,” one passing girl saucily said to him; and giggled loudly to her friend when he blushed.

John hurried off to his next lesson then, vowing he would repay Donna Noble for that!

 

He would find her later leaning against the wall by the coffee machine in the staff room chatting to Dave Branson from the technology department. She raised her eyebrows in greeting at him but carried on talking. Should he just go over and talk to her, should he get a coffee and hover close by, or should he go and talk to someone else? Why was life so full of awkward decisions?! He didn’t even know why he wanted to talk to her; he just did. 

He finally decided that he was thirsty anyway, so he made his way over to the machine. “Mine’s white, one sugar,” Donna aimed at him as he started to place money in. For some reason a happy grin lit up his features and he pressed the appropriate buttons for her coffee before getting himself one.

By the time he had turned with both cups towards her Dave had sauntered off to grab his messages from a pigeonhole and John was standing alone with Donna. “Here you go,” he said as he handed over her cup. 

“Thanks,” she replied as she took it, unamazed that he managed to brush her fingers as he handed it over. “How’s it going so far? It doesn’t seem too bad a place.”

“No, I don’t suppose it is. I’d forgotten how exhausting it can be working full time,” he told her. Realising he ought to expand on that, he added, “Normally Martha and I are dealing with other things.” 

‘Oh, he’s married,’ Donna instantly thought. Shame; she’d have to back off now and he’d seemed interested. Story of her life really… So she smiled weakly, and started to calculate how she could extract herself from the situation. 

He half expected her to ask what they would normally be dealing with but instead Donna looked rather downhearted. “Are you still going to Graham Chapman’s on Friday?” he asked hopefully.

Damn! She’d forgotten she’d agreed to go to that; and she really ought to considering she’d be working with these people for a while. “Yes, of course,” she said politely. “I’ll get to meet everybody and their wives. I wonder if a teddy bear can be counted as a significant other if I take him with me. Anyway, see you later.” She then turned on her heel and walked away from him.

What the…? What happened just then?! One moment they were chatting quite amiably and the next she had shut herself off. He stood there stunned as he watched her go. Had she met Martha and not liked her? Surely not. Everybody liked Martha, didn’t they? He would have to ask her when he got the chance to find out if Donna had any reason to be annoyed. Despondently he made his way back to his room to finish off marking some books.

 

“Mr Smith?! I’ve got those worksheets you desperately wanted,” Donna called around his door during his next lesson hesitantly, having rapped loudly on it and gained permission to enter first.

John almost tripped over a chair leg in his eagerness to get to her, causing several pupils to laugh. “Thank you, Miss Noble. I’d thought you’d forgotten me,” he said, grinning broadly at the sight of her. Placing a hand onto the edge of a desktop to lean on it, he suddenly lost his grip and he half plunged towards the floor.

The whole room guffawed as he did so and tried to look as though he had meant to do that. “Careful, sir. You almost fell for her,” the nearest boy remarked.

Donna had rushed forward and was now holding his arm to presumably keep him upright. “Are you okay? They must have over polished these floors today,” she sought to comfort him. 

He caught the gleam in her eye that suggested she didn’t believe that in the slightest. To add to his embarrassment he blushed again. “Ah... well… you know,” he stammered as he gazed straight into her eyes. Why did she have this effect on him?

She patted his hand. “If you can make it back to your desk I’ll leave the worksheets there, unless you want them somewhere else,” she offered.

“Erm…” He was shocked to hear his voice come out a bit squeaky, so he forced it to go lower. “On my desk is fine.” He thought it best to stay stock still whilst she deposited her armful of papers and watched her leave the room.

“You should definitely go out with her, sir, if you ask me,” the boy sitting by his elbow commented.

“Yes, thank you, Harry. When I want your opinion I’ll ask for it,” he replied tersely. 

“Don’t you like her, sir?” a girl asked incredulously. “Cos you looked as though you do.”

Kids and their flipping opinions! He’d forgotten this aspect as well. “That’s enough! Now where were we…?” he demanded, distracting them away; but he had the feeling they were going to drag up his personal life again given half the chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** the London A-Z is a book of street maps for London and its outer boundaries, for anyone who wasn’t sure.

Donna was not looking forward to this departmental meal one bit. For a start she was going to end up playing gooseberry to a load of marrieds who would look at her as though she was some sad case because she didn't belong to their exclusive club.

Sighing, she put on a pair of decent heels, picked up her handbag and headed out of the door. Graham Chapman lived on the outer edge of the London A-Z, so she desperately hoped she didn't get lost as there would be a swathe of roads that she didn't have. Perhaps she would ask for that Sat Nav for her birthday after all.

Standing anxiously on a doorstep, she adjusted her dress on her hips, hoping she wasn't showing too much leg or cleavage, and waited for someone to answer the doorbell. After a few moments fortunately Graham opened the door, making her feel instantly relieved that she'd found the right place. "Hello!" she greeted.

"Donna!" he cried out, as though she was a long lost friend. "Come in and meet everyone."

Everyone? How many was 'everyone'? "Okay," she answered nervously. How long would she have to stay before leaving wasn't impolite? These and other questions whizzed through her head.

He guided her down the hallway and into a room at the back of the house. "Everyone, this is Donna, our new Girl Friday," Graham announced her to the people in his dining room.

Donna found herself shaking hands with Linda, his wife, the departmental deputy head Jenny Atkins and her husband Gary, and finally John Smith; and only John Smith. So where was his wife? She then found herself being seated next to John, who didn't look too upset about it at all.

"So, Donna, is there a man in your life at the moment?" Linda asked her within minutes of passing her a glass of wine.

'Here we go', she thought. Donna blushed, knowing where this could be leading. "No, none that I know of. But I live in hope," she said as cheerfully as she could.

"And what about you, John?" Linda turned the question on him.

"No, there's no man in my life either; not that I'm into men, or… or… against people who are, or anything," he told them, and took a hasty sip of his drink. He caught Donna wearing a puzzled but angry expression as she regarded him. "What? Did I say something wrong?" he whispered to her.

"No, not wrong; but you just dissed your wife Martha," she hissed in hushed tones at him.

"My wife? I haven't got a wife called Martha or anything else!" he exclaimed incredulously. "Where did you get that from?"

"Then who is Martha?" she asked in a low voice.

"A friend that I met who also happens to work at the school; nothing more. Why did you think I was married?" he wondered. Oh heck! That explained everything! No wonder it had seemed like she had been avoiding him.

"Just something someone said," she answered nonchalantly. Oh yes, oh yes! This evening was turning out alright after all. "John…," she started to say and then anxiously continued, "By the way, your napkin is on fire."

"My what?" He jumped back as they both sought to beat the flames out together. "I'm terribly sorry, Linda. I don't know what came over me," he immediately apologised to their hostess.

"Are you always this clumsy?" Donna asked as she uncontrollably giggled at him. "I thought the doorway was normal, the desk top was pushing it a bit, but now you've gone and done this I'm beginning to wonder if you have a death wish!"

He leant in to whisper, "You should see what I do for an encore."

She clamped a hand over her mouth and burst into laughter.

"Now children! Behave yourselves!" Graham playfully admonished them, glad to see they were getting along. He had suspected that they would.

 

Donna switched to water after that, since she was driving, and enjoyed her meal enormously. Inevitably the talk turned to teaching, and she found herself getting a little bored by things that didn't mean a great deal to her. But she listened anyway; well, she did until John leaned in again to whisper something.

"Don't worry; I don't know who these people they are talking about are either," he consoled her, placing a hand over the top of hers.

Not knowing whether the gesture was merely friendly or friendly, she let him keep it there just to see. The feel of his hand was quite nice; she had to admit, as it lay above hers. She was trying to come up with something else to say when Jenny suddenly asked her where she lived; so she quickly explained where in Chiswick it was.

"Really? I live just down the road from you," John remarked. "Do you know the new block off the High Street? I live there, in one of the teacher flats."

"Oh I know them!" she exclaimed with glee. "I'd wondered who they'd built them for."

"So you can give John a lift home and save him some time," remarked Graham to Donna.

John felt mortified at being pushed so obviously into sharing a car with Donna; so he sheepishly said, "You don't have to. I can easily go the same way I got here."

"No, it's alright," Donna insisted, pleased to see he was as embarrassed as she was. "I'm practically going passed your front door so it would be daft not to offer you a lift." She'd been cornered into making the offer, but she didn't mind in the slightest. In fact it might work in her favour.

 

By the end of the evening John's hand had strayed a couple of times onto her arm or hand, but only ever so briefly she noted, and his leg kept wedging itself fleetingly against hers; but all the time he was a perfect gentleman. Her only concern was that he'd downed a few glasses of wine during the course of the evening, and she began to suspect that she was going to have to go on drunk-bloke alert. This could mean anything from fending off the advances of a drunk to holding back hair while somebody is sick before the evening was out.

What she wasn't in any doubt about was his interest in her. He'd spent practically the whole night talking with just her, using any excuse to ask an opinion, or starting their own little exclusive conversation. To say she was flattered was an understatement. Before this current job she would have run a mile from any possible relationship with a teacher of all people, but with him the idea wasn't too bad at all.

Before she knew it the clock was dangerously close to midnight, so she announced that she'd better make tracks for home. "Come on, Sunshine," she said and gestured to John to follow her. "Let these good people get to bed."

Saying their thanks and goodbyes, Donna strode out into the cold night air, expecting John to easily follow behind. Instead he just wavered on the footpath once they were outside. Their hosts snickered at him as he stood there like a lost child.

Donna marched back to the house and grabbed his hand. "This way!" she said as she tugged to get him to follow her. "I'm parked just up here."

"Oh I see," he mumbled, and patiently followed her lead. Except he tripped, and Donna had to quickly place herself beneath him so that he didn't land splat on the pavement.

"You really do have problems walking, don't you," she remarked. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"

"I don't know. I forgot to keep count," he admitted. "Can I hold on to you?"

"Yes, alright," she agreed, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulders; so it only seemed fitting to put her arm around his waist. "Can you make it to the car okay now?"

"Is this your car? It's blue!" he announced as though it was the funniest thing in the world.

Drunks, eh? She steered him towards the passenger door, and leant him against the door pillar as she attempted to open the car. "Do you think you can get in okay?"

He nodded his answer. "Definitely," he decided before almost falling onto the passenger seat.

At least he'd made it inside the car, Donna reasoned. It could have been worse. That was before he started singing along to the radio; loudly. And he was aiming the songs at her, which was a bit embarrassing. On the plus side, he did manage to stay in key.

 

"John, where are your front door keys?" she asked as they pulled in to the small car park for his block of flats.

"In my pocket," he answered; and then just sat there.

"Can you get them out, please," she tried to encourage him.

He giggled and then said, "No!"

"Oh for the love of… Which pocket are they in?" she asked more sternly.

"Not telling," he retorted with a pout.

"Then you'll have to face the consequences of me finding them," she warned him, and thrust a hand into the nearest pocket.

"Ooh, you're keen!" he trilled with delight.

Donna decided to ignore this and carried on looking. This resulted in her leaning across him in a very compromising position. Not that it was the first time such a thing had happened to her, nor would it probably be the last. "Just keep still will you? This is awkward enough as it is," she griped. "Ahah! I've found it," she triumphantly declared, holding his key aloft.

"Wasn't all you found," he cheekily remarked; so she was duty bound to swat his leg then. He didn't seem all that fazed about it.

"Come on, Cinderfella; let's get you to where you belong." She'd opened the passenger door and was manhandling him out of the vehicle while he fought to free himself from the seat belt.

With lots of whispered instructions as they sort of walked along, she finally found where his front door was, opened it and took him inside. It was all a bit bare and basic, she noticed. "Which way to your bedroom, and don't start with the saucy talk, mister! I'll get you sorted out and then I'm going home," she informed him.

What she had expected was to manoeuvre him into his bedroom, sit him down on the bed, supply him with a glass of water and then disappear off home. What she got was him thanking her profusely as they stumbled in through the door, kissing her cheek in gratitude and then making his way down to her neck as he slid his hands across and over her body. She opened her mouth to protest as he pinned her against the wall, but his lips suddenly claimed hers and she was powerless under the onslaught. Mainly because it wasn't horrible in any shape or form; instead it was soft, seductive, and incredibly sexy as he moved against her. She could feel the tip of his tongue tasting and teasing her lips before easing them apart to smooth over her tongue.

If she wasn't careful she could end up having sex with a drunk, and that was never a good idea. The morning after can be a complete nightmare. With a great deal of reluctance, she murmured, "Let's get you into bed, John."

"Oh yes!" he replied eagerly.

It seemed a bit cruel, but she helped him get undressed and into bed, she fetched him a glass of water and some headache tablets for the morning, and then she crept quietly away. The last thing she wanted was to create bad feelings between them, so she left him there looking adorable as he scrunched up in his bed cuddling his pillow.

What she didn't know was that she was being watched as she left his flat.


	3. Chapter 3

John woke up groggily wondering where he was and why he was there. Hadn’t he been on his way to Outer Calistro VI before he found himself here? Here being an extremely unusual and domestic place; and a bed to boot!

But whose bed? Sitting up he was surprised to find he was half naked in this strange bed that faintly smelt of a woman. He breathed in deeper to let the scent assault his senses and the clear image of long ginger hair that shone in the sunlight formed in his mind.

Donna! Her name was Donna, and she’d been with him there last night, he suddenly realised. Either that or it had been a spectacularly realistic dream.

He laid back down on his pillow then to let the possible memory of her materialise in his head. Yes, she had definitely been in this bedroom, his bedroom; and she had undressed him, getting him to peel off his clothing, right down to his underpants. Oh my! She had stripped him almost naked.

That wasn’t all that had happened. As they had entered the small hallway of his flat he had… yes, he had kissed her. At least he thought he had. That part was the memory component he suspected was pure fantasy in a wish fulfilment dream of some sort. ‘I mean, what woman would want to kiss me?’ he pondered. Only she hadn’t exactly had a choice in it, from what he remembered. He had rather forced her into it! Oh dear, oh dear. How would he ever be able to apologise enough to Donna?

And what the hell was that pain in his groin? Wasn’t it bad enough that his body kept reacting in this embarrassing way, but that it should be increasingly painful?! He really should find a doctor to ask about it, if he could ever get over his humiliation. Perhaps Martha would have a biology book he could borrow that would explain it all? Although how on earth could he form the question that he wanted to ask in order to get such a book from her? No, it was best that he didn’t do so for the time being. This low pain might eventually go away of its own accord. It seemed to be worse when he thought about his vivid dream where he kissed Donna. It wasn’t the first time he had had such a dream this week since he first laid eyes on her, but the previous night’s one was by far the most… erm… uplifting so far, for want of a better phrase.

He idly swept a hand under his pillow to stop it from trying to fall on the floor, and his hand touched something small and circular. Grabbing hold of it, he brought the object out and held it up to his face for closer examination.

It was an earring! A hooped earring of the sort that he was sure Donna wore. So how had it got into his bed? Had she…? He eyed the bed with open curiosity. No, she couldn’t have done, could she? This proved Donna had definitely been there in his bedroom, so the undressing part was true. Was the kissing part true too? And did the earring mean that he wasn’t the only one to get undressed?

The pain in his groin suddenly worsened, rendering him momentarily breathless with it. He grimaced with the pain and rubbed at it to help ease it somewhat; making the decision to have a warming shower to try and lessen it.

He would find that helped enormously, much to his surprised horror. As it was, he would console himself with the possibility of engineering a meeting to return that earring to Donna.

Donna got a mystery phonecall just before lunchtime that turned out not to be quite a mystery. “Hello. Is that Donna?” the voice asked. “It’s John; from last night, and last week I suppose. Anyway, I don’t… I wanted to thank you for getting me home safely and undressing me. It was you that did that, wasn’t it? I think I might have behaved a bit inappropriately. If I did, I apologise. I’m not normally like that, you see and…”

“John!” she cut in to stop his apologetic tirade. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. All you did was get a bit drunk, and no harm was done.”

“Are you sure? Only I seem to recall being most ungentlemanlike,” he protested.

“If you call singing James Blunt songs to me being ungentlemanly, then yes, I’ll agree. But other than that you honestly have nothing to worry about,” Donna insisted.

“But I do! Let me make it up to you. I could take you out for a meal, or we could go to the pictures, or something,” he offered.

“How about a concert performed by the Scots Dragoon Guards?” she deliberately suggested to tease him about his hangover.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Are you sure you want that?” he queried.

She had to stifle her laughter. “No, not really.” 

“While I have you on the line, did you by any chance lose a piece of jewellery last night?” he asked hesitantly. If she didn’t answer in the affirmative then that meant that he had stolen it off her; and that thought would be added to all his recent unbearable ones. It wouldn’t make it into the top three, mind.

“Yes, I did!” she eagerly answered with relief; and they both instantly felt better. “I lost my left earring, and I didn’t even notice it had gone until I was getting undressed and putting on my nightie.”

The thought of Donna nakedly slipping on a nightdress that skimmed over her ample curves, as gravity helped ease it down her hip, instantly brought back that damned pain, and John silently cursed the mental image and his abundant imagination.

He rapidly cleared his throat. “When should I return it to you?” he tried asking, hoping she would suggest right that second or possibly later that day.

“Erm…” Donna thought carefully when would be possibly convenient for him. “Monday would be perfectly fine. There’s no need to put yourself out on my behalf.”

“Oh! That’s okay, I don’t mind in the slightest, since we’re practically neighbours,” he said quickly, hoping to persuade her.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ve got to do a spot of shopping for Mum, so how about I take your phone number and get in touch to arrange something later,” she offered.

John bit down on his disappointment; he’d hoped to arrange something a bit more definite. “That sounds fine,” he agreed before reciting his mobile phone number, explaining that he hadn’t arranged a landline yet.

“Right then, I’ve got to go,” she said cheerily. “These packets of tea won’t buy themselves. Shame, because that would be an amazing trick to watch. I’d pay good money to see tea bags walking down the street; although where would they keep the money to pay at the till? It’s not as though they’ve got pockets, is it?”

“Donna, you’re mad!” he declared fondly.

“You’re not the first person to have ever said that,” she agreed; and they chuckled together. “I’ll speak to you later, John. Bye!”

He returned the farewell and came off the phone feeling very optimistic. Now how could he entice her to come round that evening?

 

John spent time anxiously, and then later cheerfully, cleaning his flat for the approval of his possible evening visitor. He felt like a complete prat for behaving like some desperate adolescent the night before. Being drunk was no excuse for it. Duty dictated that he make it up to Donna being as gentlemanly as possible in future. That sort of nonsense could not happen again.

Martha walked passed his door and was amazed to hear vacuuming coming from inside. Curiosity made her knock on the door. He eventually opened it wearing a big beamy smile and a pinny. “Hello, Martha! Lovely to see you this fine day. How can I help you?” he jovially asked.

“Nothing, really. I just wondered how you are since you don’t normally vacuum,” she revealed.

“Don’t I? Surely you’re mistaken. I know I can be a bit untidy, but slovenly?! Nah! Did you want to come for a cup of tea? I can easily put the kettle on. In fact I was thinking of making a cake,” he threw at her as he headed into the kitchen.

A cake! Now this she had to see!! “If you’ve got time,” she said as she stepped in. To say she was astonished would be an understatement. “So... Why the cleaning frenzy? Anyone would think you were having a special guest,” she teased.

“Well... I might have later on,” he remarked coyly.

Martha instantly wondered if it was the woman that had walked by her window late the night before. She had seemed as though she had come from the Doctor’s door; but Martha had dismissed it at the time as being impossible. The Doctor never looked at women. If he did he would have surely looked in her direction. She may be modest but Martha also knew that she was worth looking at.

“Who would that be then?” Martha asked as she accepted his offer of a mug of tea. She rather liked this new domesticated Doctor; he was much more pleasant to her.

He considered if he ought to say a great deal at this stage. “Erm… Do you know a woman in the office called Donna Noble? Well, she does some administrative stuff for the history department, and she gave me a lift home last night. I thought I might repay her by, sort of, inviting her round. That’s not daft, is it?” he added on the question when Martha seemed shocked by his admission. “Do you not like her? Is there something wrong that I should know about?” he asked anxiously.

Martha shook her head. “No, there’s nothing wrong with her! I haven’t met her yet but a few people have said that she seems very nice, helpful and efficient. Old man Gregory said you could tell she wasn’t a permanent employee by her enthusiasm!” She gave a chuckle as she remembered his words the previous day.

It was at that point that she noticed the Doctor’s expression of curious concern. She’d never seen him look so vulnerable. Then she thought about a comment one of the boys had said to her on the way to the school bus; something about being replaced in Mr Smith’s love life. She had laughed it off at the time, but now she could see it was a bit more serious.

“Are you sure it’s wise to encourage this Donna if we are going to be moving on in a couple of weeks?” she pondered.

“We’re doing that?” he asked.

“John, you know we’re doing that at the end of term. We discussed this,” she reminded him gently.

It didn’t seem to matter how many times this cropped up he always seemed reluctant to leave this teaching job. To be quite frank, Martha could not wait to leave the place and its little guttersnipes; but the Doctor was enjoying the experience immensely. He had taken to it like a duck to water. Martha fleetingly wondered if the presence of this Donna had any bearing on it. Perhaps.

It was with a great deal of concern that she watched him evade the subject with her. He was hiding something, and that fact scared her. So she changed the subject. “How about pooling our resources and doing some food shopping together?” suggested Martha.

“Do you think we should?” he asked in astonishment.

“Well… John… it makes sense seeing as we live next door to each other. We could even share the odd meal if you like,” she reasoned.

“Yes, that could work,” he reluctantly agreed, knowing it was logical despite his initial response of declining the offer. His shared meal plans involved someone else entirely, but it was unfair of him to exclude and neglect Martha. “Okay then.”


	4. Chapter 4

It was quickly decided that they would go and seek out their nearest branch of Tesco’s after their cup of tea, and a shopping list was hastily put together.

That was how they found themselves pushing a shopping trolley an hour later arguing over the intricacies of how many packets of Rich Tea biscuits was deemed ‘too much’, ending with John resisting the urge to shout that he’d pay for the whole bloody lot if that would shut her up!

Martha really hated John Smith in that moment; he was far too childish for her tastes at times. If she had met him first rather than the Doctor she would never have agreed to travel further than the end of Chiswick Pier with him, and that was pushing it!

Seeing the various foods on display made her really miss her mum and homemade cooking. This was too much like being a student again. “I might go and visit my mum tomorrow,” she said conversationally as they passed the freshly baked pies section.

“Do you? That’s nice,” John said distractedly, looking somewhere else entirely.

Martha frowned. What was he on about now, and what had caught his wandering attention? He seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the next aisle.

It was her! John was sure it was her meandering through the store and currently looking at the cartons of fruit juice. He was just about to jump into the central aisle and yell out to the woman he thought was Donna when he realised he might mess this up if he was seen with Martha. After all, he’d told Donna that he wasn’t married to Martha; but didn’t a shared trolley suggest quite an intimate relationship? Oh heck! He’d have to avoid her after all when his instinct was to rush up and grab Donna… grab her attention.

“Who or what have you seen?” Martha asked him suspiciously as he threw himself against the shelving.

He shushed her. “I’m not here, right!”

Martha agreed that he wasn’t right in the head! “D-John, what is going on?” Martha demanded as she stood with hands on hips. So help her she’d slap him in a minute if he didn’t stop behaving like a complete idiot!

John pointed vaguely round the corner of the aisle. “It’s erm… I can’t be seen here with you, it might lead to unwanted questions,” he told her lamely.

Oh for the love of…! Martha sighed loudly in exasperation at his antics. Anybody would think he was in a spy movie or an adulterous husband. A thought that suddenly made her wonder if they had run into Rose; but surely they couldn’t have? Especially as he wasn’t supposed to remember anything from his normal life.

“Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” she asked bluntly, determined to get to the bottom of this.

“Oh no! But I told Donna…,” his voice trailed off as he wondered what or how much he should admit.

Martha almost wanted to hug herself with relief that she wasn’t having to deal with that scenario; that is, until his words sunk in. “What did you tell Donna? Is it the same Donna from the office at school?” she enquired.

His guilty expression said it all. “Might be…”

“And why exactly can’t she see… John, Come back here!” she called after his retreating figure.

But he had fled.

 

Donna spotted him hiding almost straight away, if you could call pressing yourself up against the baked bean tins as hiding. So she deliberately led him away to where the more embarrassing products were, hoping he’d eventually do something stupid. She didn’t have long to wait as he trailed after her.

“That really isn’t your colour,” she drily commented as she found him pretending to be at one with the display rails of the bra department. A red flowery bra, size 36C, was hanging on his head.

“It isn’t? Do you think I should have stuck with the cream?” he asked her nonchalantly as he fingered another item on display.

She nodded. “Definitely. Although you might want to try a slightly smaller size.”

He looked at the size F cup label in horror and almost threw the bra at her.

“Can’t handle it, eh?” she smirked. “Come on then, history boy; tell me why all the skulduggery. And don’t try to tell me you’re in touch with your feminine side.”

He blushed. “You’ve caught me banged to rights, guv’nor, but society is to blame,” he joked in his best Cockney accent.

Donna giggled loudly and swatted his arm. “I ought to have you arrested for stalking me,” she told him.

“True! But you love me too much to do that,” he replied, and deliberately gave her his best cutesy face; making her laugh again.

“So this is where you sneaked off to!” Martha stormed at John, choosing to ignore the presence of Donna for the time being.

“Oh! Martha! I was just… erm… This is Donna Noble. Donna, this is Martha Jones,” he stammered guiltily.

The two women cagily said hello to each other.

The fact that Martha was pushing a trolley with men’s shaving foam in it might have been dismissible if John hadn’t acted so guilty. Okay, so he wasn’t married, judging by the lack of a ring on Martha’s finger; but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in a long term relationship.

“It was lovely to finally meet you, Martha. You must find it hard to keep a straight face with this idiot around all the time,” Donna remarked. “I’ll leave you to get on with your shopping.” She then walked hurriedly away, and in no way did she leg it; nuh uh! And just because the only decent bloke who showed her the least bit of attention lately was shacked up with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen didn’t make her feel inadequate in the slightest! If she kept saying that last bit she might believe it one day; but for now she just wanted to cry. It also didn’t influence her decision to get out of the store as quickly as she could.

Yet again John found himself standing stunned as Donna Noble walked away from him. What had possessed him to hide the fact he was there with Martha? In hindsight it had been an amazingly bad decision. All he’d managed to do was make the situation look decidedly suspicious.

Martha watched the emotions play over his face with very mixed feelings. Yes, she’d long hoped to see such an expression on his face, but she’d wanted to be the reason for it in a good way. Why couldn’t he ever think of her in that way? And what was so special about Donna, with her ginger hair, blue eyes, curvaceous figure and evident sense of humour? All of that should have been easy to compete with. Martha needed a comforting hug. “I’m going home to see my mum,” she stated defiantly.

When John blinked pathetically at her and said, “Pardon?” Martha wanted to abandon him forever.

 

John slumped against his front door after shutting it. He had to be honest with himself; he had messed up big time. Martha was furious with him for sneaking off to catch a peek of Donna, and Donna had waltzed away thinking God knew what about him. He wanted to make it up to her, he needed to make it up to her for the sake of his own sanity; and how the heck was he going to do that?

He had tried to explain things the moment he had seen her in school. “Donna…?” he had started to say.

“Good morning, Mr Smith. If you have any request could you put it in my in-tray, please ,” Donna had formally said before trying to walk away from him.

John made a grab for her forearm to halt her progress. “Please Donna, let me explain,” he begged her. “It isn’t what you think.”

She eyed his hand with disdain. “How on earth could you possibly know what I think? Unless it has to do with the fact that I don’t mess around with men who are clearly taken. Now kindly let me get on with my job and you can finish playing silly buggers somewhere else instead.”

He let her go then; it had seemed a good idea at the time. Perhaps he could get Martha to explain things weren’t like that? Except he couldn’t see Martha agreeing to ever help him out again.

 

Martha was just coming out of her classroom when she noticed two year eleven girls regarding her sympathetically. “Do you think she knows?” one whispered to the other.

“Knows what, ladies?” Martha sternly asked.

They both looked sheepish. “Knows about your boyfriend, miss.” They both exchanged looks at this point. “He’s been cheating on you, miss, with the new woman in reprographics.”

Part of Martha was delighted they were showing her such loyalty so she gave them a friendly smile. “Firstly, he isn’t my boyfriend but only my friend. And secondly, he isn’t cheating with anyone, least of all Miss Noble.”

“But we saw him, miss!” the other girl declared indignantly. “He was all over her like a rash!”

“Yeah, he well fancies her,” the first girl confirmed. “My friend in group B said he always tries to get her to stay and talk in their lesson.”

What could Martha say to that? “And does she stay?” she heard herself ask.

“Usually she does. Amy said they flirt like crazy, but then she would say that,” was the reply. “It’s a bit sick if you ask me. Old people shouldn’t act like that.”

Martha wanted to laugh at their obvious ageism. “Jealous!” she retorted. “I’ve got better things to worry about than Mr Smith’s love life.” Except she _did_ worry about his love life; very much.

 

John put his hand in his pocket and rediscovered the earring sitting in there. Thank you! He finally had a first class reason to talk with Donna privately.

The next time he saw Donna was in a crowded corridor. “Er… Miss Noble?! Can I have a quick word with you, please?”

She couldn’t get out of that sort of public request easily, could she?

“What did you want, Mr Smith? I haven’t got long to hang about here talking to you,” she said, using her professional voice again.

John waited for her in the doorway of what he thought was an empty classroom. He lowered his voice just in case little ears were listening. “The thing is, Miss Noble, I found this in my bed the other day. “ He held out his hand to show her the earring. “You left it Friday night, if you remember. I didn’t get the chance to give it to you at the weekend.”

Donna’s expression softened slightly, relieved that he wasn’t being a prat. “Thank you for returning it to me,” she said as she took it from his open hand.

He gulped nervously. “I’m really sorry about the misunderstanding; I really am. I need to tell you the truth.”

“Let’s do ourselves a favour and leave it be. Okay, so there’s no marriage, but we both know it is serious,” she argued.

“But Donna, please!” he begged. “I need you to…” 

Donna put her finger on his lips to shut him up. “No,” she stated before sadly walking away.

John was too busy watching his happiness walk away to notice the three pupils listening in the open walk-in cupboard. They saw him sigh despondently and leave. “Did I hear right? Did he say they got married but it turned out to be illegal?” one girl asked. 

“They eloped! How romantic,” the second girl swooned.

“He tricked her into marrying him. Now that’s what I call love,” the third girl commented. “I think she ought to take him back.”

“What do you reckon he gave her?” the second girl asked.

“A wedding ring; I’m certain of that,” the first girl stated.

“If only she would go back to him. She’d be mad not to. Let’s go tell the others,” the third girl suggested enthusiastically; and the three year eights hurried off.


	5. Chapter 5

The first time it happened Donna was really confused. “Hello Miss Noble! Or shouldn’t that be Mrs Smith?” a year ten boy snickered as he greeted her in the corridor.

Donna didn’t know him from Adam, so she didn’t know how to take that. Instead she merely dismissed him as being one sandwich short of a picnic.

Then two girls giggled together before loudly saying, “There’s Mrs Smith!” That one had riled her a bit more.

By the end of the afternoon at least seven more pupils referred to her as Mrs Smith; and Donna was getting close to throttling one of them. What the hell was going on?!

 

The biggest surprise happened when Donna was asked to attend the year eleven assembly on the Friday morning. There were a few members of staff attending that she now recognised so she didn’t feel too much like an interloper. She’d been asked to attend because the headmaster was going to announce a significant change to reprographics; and she fervently hoped it was going to be the purchase of a new photocopier. The one they currently had was playing up enormously. 

The run of one hundred copies suddenly ground to a halt and the paper jam symbol flashed up. Nothing strange in that since photocopiers were notoriously good at being moody buggers. She’d been mortified when she opened the thing up the previous afternoon to see where any paper was jammed and the machine had trapped her hand!

Yelling in astonishment, and a few other voiced emotions, fortunately someone had rushed in and rescued her. Unfortunately it had been John. 

Why did it have to be John who rescued her? Just when she thought she had trained her heart. She had to endure him being sweetly sympathetic as he pressed up close; close enough to see every freckle, every bit of stubble on his chin in fine detail, and smell his gorgeous aftershave. He really did smell wonderful! ‘Martha is one lucky girl’, she couldn’t help thinking.

Whatever John did, he managed to press and poke the photocopier in a few places, and before she knew it he was tenderly caressing her ex-trapped hand. 

John had been heading for the staffroom during a rare free lesson when he’d heard the cries for help coming from the office where Donna was based. Without a thought about whether his presence was welcome or not he barged straight in, and found Donna trapped in the photocopier.

“It’s okay, don’t worry, I’ll soon get you free,” he immediately soothed her. He peered in and instantly saw what the problem was. “I’ll just press this… and adjust this… and there you go!” he exclaimed with delight. His delight increased as he found himself holding Donna’s hand, and she let him, so he resolved to make the most of this moment.

Should she care in this precious second that he was off limits? She really didn’t want to. “Thank you, John. I might have been trapped here for hours at this rate,” she breathily expressed her gratitude.

He continued stroking her offended hand. “You’re welcome, Donna. You will always be welcome,” he said sincerely.

She tried to gulp back on her emotions, so she asked, “How’s Martha?”

He sighed. Not this again! “Donna, I wouldn’t generally know,” he softly stated, not wanting to break this peaceful moment between them. “She and I aren’t involved in any way. We’re neighbours and we’re good friends but please believe me when I say it doesn’t go beyond that.”

“So you’re not an item?” she tried to clarify.

“No,” he confirmed, moving his stroking caress to include her wrist and fingers.

Tilly walked in at that point, and started when she saw them together. “Is there something I should know about?” she immediately asked.

“It’s the photocopier; it was playing up,” Donna explained.

John smiled conspiratorially and added, “I had to come in and rescue her from becoming part of it.”

“I see,” Tilly remarked, wondering why the pair of them were still standing together like that. Well, she had her suspicions as to why, and it looked like all those rumours might be true. “I’ll leave you to it then,” she stated and left the room.

“Shall we try starting again, me and you,” John suggested, with a broad grin. “Hello, I’m John Smith. I’m a single history teacher who lives completely on his own and would love to get to know Donna Noble a little better. I’m a bit of a berk, but nothing dangerous.”

Donna giggled at his absurdity. “Hello John Smith. I’m Donna Noble, single, currently living back with my mum to help look after Dad. I have a gold medal in jumping to conclusions and an A level in putting two and two together to make five. The getting to know better part is beginning to sound really good.”

They smiled goofily at each other.

John spoke first. “Then perhaps we should arrange a date?” he asked hopefully.

Donna nodded enthusiastically. “I like a man with a plan.”

 

Donna was thinking about this as she took a staff chair at the side of the school hall as the children waited expectantly for the headmaster to arrive. She caught sight of John across on the other side of the hall and shared a brief smile.

The headmaster appeared soon after, made his way to the school stage and began his spiel. It was the usual stuff that she remembered from when she’d been at school; a lot of blah blah about how good they were, how they represented the school followed by a bit of moaning. It was the next item that caught her attention, enough to make her heart beat faster. 

“While we are on the topic of up and coming events in this all important term, I have something to announce regarding the reprographics department,” the headmaster told the assembled year elevens. “I’m sure you all know Miss Noble by sight by now. If you could come up here please, Miss Noble.”

All eyes swivelled onto her. Donna did a ‘who me?’ in response before other staff gestured for her to make her way up to the stage. Hesitantly, she made her way to stand by the headmaster, smiling nervously.

“Good!” the headmaster declared when she joined him. “If Mr Smith could now come up.”

There was a flurry of whispered comments as a bemused John made his way up onto the stage. “Headmaster,” he greeted him with a nod.

The headmaster quietened the pupils. “Now I’m sure you’ve all seen these two new members of staff about the place. They have already made a favourable impact with their presence. What you may not know about them is that they tried to get married!” the headmaster announced. “So we’d all like to wish you both every happiness!”

Both Donna and John stood shocked at this ‘news’ as the assembled pupils enthusiastically applauded and cheered them. How embarrassing was that?!

But it was about to get worse for them. “You can do better than that,” the headmaster chided them. “How about a kiss for the bride?”

John balked at that; he’d been planning their first proper kiss very carefully and the plan had no mention of an audience made up of three hundred sixteen year olds!

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” chanted the kids.

There was no other way out of this predicament. John took the bull by the horns, or should that be Donna by the shoulders, and leaned in. It was no surprise that Donna was trembling apprehensively. “Try and pretend you like me,” he bravely whispered, and pulled her close.

Before she knew it his lips were on hers, dramatically kissing her. As the kids roared their glee she decided to go for broke and kissed him back.

The headmaster tapped John on the shoulder to say, “You can stop now.”

Slightly dazed, John released Donna; and all the kids giggled. “Alright?” he anxiously asked her quietly, holding onto her hand for all it was worth.

“Yeah,” she softly answered.

When the news reached Martha she almost went into a blind panic. What the heck was she supposed to do with an engaged Doctor? She had to ignore her gut instinct reaction of wanting to go to the TARDIS, but she knew she would have to go and consult the instructions the Doctor had left as soon as the day ended.

 

John rushed out of the hall and didn’t make straight for his classroom; instead he followed Donna into the reprographics room.

“What the hell are we going to do about this?!” she immediately demanded to know as they spoke in hushed whispers.

“I don’t know! I’ve never had anything like this happen before. At least we’re in it together,” he tried to lighten the conversation.

Donna still looked overly worried. “But they think we’re getting married! Had already tried to get married! Where the hell did they get _that_ idea from?”

John grabbed her hands to try and calm her down. “I have no idea. I can’t get my head around this. One second I’m being accused of having a relationship with Martha and the next I’m getting hitched to you! Not that getting hitched to you is a horrible thought but bloody hell, Donna! How did we get into this mess?”

She couldn’t help laughing then at the ludicrousness of their situation. “It’s one thing after another with you. Is it always this mad?”

He laughed with her. “It must be, but I don’t remember anything vividly. Tell you what, let’s discuss this later and for now we’ll have fun with this.”

“Fun? What sort of fun?” she queried with interest.

He winked mischievously at her. “A spot of this…,” he said, lightly kissing her. “And a spot of this…” He placed another kiss and then wrapped his arms around her waist. “And maybe a spot of this…” He tenderly kissed her mouth.

“I see what you mean,” she replied as though they had been hotly debating a topic. “You do realise I may want to see your research later.”

“You can see whatever you like,” he answered. “But for now I have thirty year sevens waiting for me.”

“You can do it, John! You can lead them on to educational enlightenment,” she cheekily gushed.

His expression was a mixture of amusement and fondness. “If you don’t behave yourself properly I shall have to hold you in detention.”

“Ooh yes please!” she enthused saucily.

“Then I shall see you later,” he huskily told her as he left.

 

Martha pressed and twirled various dials. “Come on,” she muttered to herself. “There must be something on here.” But clearly there wasn’t as she reeled through the TARDIS tapes the Doctor had left behind. There was nothing there at all to help her! Nothing that said anything about what she should do in case he went and fell in love, how to stop him from being a fool or how to save him from being disillusioned. She would have to sabotage his relationship to save him from himself. Damn!

 

“Hello pretend wife!” John greeted Donna on the phone. “Or would you prefer the title ‘wifey’?”

“You saucy sod! At least you didn’t call me ‘her indoors’ I suppose,” Donna replied. “I could call you ‘little John’ if you like?”

“Why ‘little’?” he wondered.

“Why not?” she countered.

He made a disgruntled face. “Anyway, moving on, are you still coming over for dinner? I thought we could choose a take away, watch some telly together, have a cuddle… and you’re suddenly not saying anything! Are you there?!”

“Stop whinging! I was drinking my cup of tea. I’ll meet you later at the Tesco Metro as we arranged,” she chided him.

“Should I wear a red carnation so that you can recognise me?” he offered.

Prawn! “Just bring your head and I’ll wing it from there. See you later at 7pm!” she called out, and shut off her phone with glee.


	6. Chapter 6

“Mum, don’t do dinner for me tonight. I’ve got a date,” Donna called out to Sylvia.

“A date? Who with this time?” her mother called back.

“One of the teachers at the school. His name’s John; you’d like him,” she replied cheerfully.

“What’s he got wrong with him? Is he blind or is he decrepit?” Sylvia wondered.

Donna rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Thanks, Mum! It’s great to know you think so highly of me.” 

Sylvia appeared in the doorway to ask, “So what’s this John really like?” 

“Oh, you know. Dark hair, same age as me, taller, skinnier, got this whole little boy lost act going on,” she explained.

“Ah, that explains it! There had to be something wrong with him,” Sylvia reasoned. 

“Mum! There is nothing wrong with him,” Donna protested loudly.

“So he’s gay then? Figures,” Sylvia snorted; and Donna just about managed to resist throwing a cushion at her.

“Do you mind?! Can’t you just for once be pleased that some bloke is showing an interest in me?” Donna beseeched her mother.

“It’s not him being interested that I’m worried about; you seem to have no trouble with that bit. I’m more concerned that you’ll be able to hold onto him for longer than five minutes. You’re no spring chicken, Donna, and I’d like some grandchildren before I die,” she argued.

“Thanks, Mum. I’ll tell him that you want all that, shall I? Or shall I just strap him down and steal his freedom?” Donna wondered sarcastically.

“Do what you like; you normally do. And don’t bring me into your petty arguments, missy. Just be careful, that’s all I ask.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Make your mind up, mother! If I’m careful you won’t end up with grandchildren.”

Sylvia swatted at Donna’s bottom with a tea towel. “Don’t be so cheeky! Now go and get ready for your young man.”

“Yes, Mum,” Donna replied and left the room whilst giggling to herself. Young man indeed! How old did she think she was?

 

She arrived outside the Tesco Metro with easily fifteen minutes to spare. Did that make her seem too keen? And if so could she cover her tracks by pretending her watch was fast or something? With this in mind she sauntered around the magazine section, idly perusing the celebrity mags and wondering if she really did care what Posh and Becks were currently up to.

It was as she backed back to eye the covers that she stepped on someone who gave out a yelp of pain. “I’m so sorry!” she immediately apologised as she swivelled round, and found herself eye to eye with John! “Hello.”

He began to apologise too for getting underfoot when he recognised Donna. “Don’t worry; I’ve got another one,” he replied, hoping she’d like his lame joke. “And hello to you!” 

She decided to go for a lame joke too. “We must stop meeting like this; people will talk.”

“Go on then, ask me if I’m bovvered,” he cheekily answered.

“I didn’t know you liked her!” Donna declared with glee. “I wonder what else we share.”

He held out a hand in invitation. “Shall we go and find out? Oh by the way; I’ve been calling you ‘the wife’ all day to the kids.”

“Sounds like they pestered you,” she commiserated. “I thought they might do something like that.”

He grinned back. “Nothing that I can’t handle now that I’ve got you,” he said, holding their joined hands up in emphasis.

 

Martha laid in wait for them; they were bound to head for the Doctor’s/John’s flat now that things were progressing on a romantic track. She glimpsed through the window of his flat that looked out onto the connecting balcony and waited, trying to quash how mean she felt with this plan.

Donna idly cast her eyes around John’s lounge while he heated up their dinner. The little items on his mantelpiece caught her eye. There was a key ring in the shape of R2D2, a receipt and an antique piece that looked like a pocket watch. It was the intricate symbols on the casing that interested her because she had never seen anything like it before. “What’s this?” she called out to John.

“What’s what?” he called back and then appeared to see what she was referring to.

“This!” she wondered, holding the item up for him to see.

“Oh that! That’s just a broken old watch. You won’t be able to open it. It’s all I have of my dad,” he explained. “I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

She gazed at it sympathetically. “No you shouldn’t,” she agreed. “Sometimes all you have left is a tiny piece of sentimental jewellery to remember someone by…” Just like the ring she had that once belonged to her Nan. Realising she was bringing the mood down, she shook her head and smiled brightly at him. “It smells good. Is it ready yet?”

The timer went off, so he rushed out and began clattering about in the kitchen to reappear a few minutes later. “Et voila!” John announced as he set down their plates of food before them. “Would madam like some wine?”

Donna eagerly presented her glass for him to fill. “Food, wine; what else are you going to offer me tonight?”

He briefly kissed her. “I’m hoping to fulfil a dream or two. As long as it doesn’t involve a drawn out game of Monopoly.”

She smirked seductively at him. “I think I can safely say that Monopoly was not the game I had in mind. Will there be dancing?”

He smirked. “I think I can offer some impressive moves, if you are interested.”

“In that case you’d better eat something. We want you to keep your strength up, don’t we?” She fed him some pasta off her fork. “I already know where you keep your muscles,” she added as she eyed his chest.

“So you do,” he answered, remembering that she’d helped him undress when he was drunk. Did that make her a keeper?

They both ate their fill, exchanging innuendoes as they did so; and eventually pushed their plates away.

With silent consent they moved closer on John’s settee and began to exchange something more physically pleasurable with their kisses. The settee creaked and groaned as they changed position to get more comfortable. 

Hands smoothed over clothing as they caressed each other. John had just braved a hand beneath Donna’s blouse when there was a loud knock on his front door, followed by a louder one.

Huffing angrily, John removed himself from Donna’s embrace and threw open the door.

“Oh John! Thank God you’re in!” Martha enthused with relief. “I’ve accidentally locked myself out and Mum won’t be home to bring over the spare key for another two hours!”

John stood incredulously as she stepped in without waiting for an invite. “Martha, I’ve got a guest here,” he warned her.

Martha gritted her teeth and entered the lounge. “Hello Donna, I didn’t know you were here,” she greeted her and deliberately sat down next to Donna so that John could only sit at the other end of the settee. “So what are you two up to?”

“Only first base,” John mumbled to himself. “Nothing much; we were just about to watch a film,” he said much more clearly.

“Ooh, what film?” Martha enthused intentionally. “And is there any popcorn to go with it?”

John threw her an exasperated look. “I don’t know. I’ll go and see what I’ve got.” He wandered off to the kitchen to rummage for a possible snack.

“So…,” Martha began as she sought eye contact with Donna, “how are you? I don’t get to see much of you over on our side of things.”

Donna glanced at the three DVDs now sitting in her lap, trying to decide which suited this situation, before answering, “I’m fine thank you. It’s been a bit busy lately getting the exam application notifications out to everyone. The assembly this morning was a shocker at the time but I think we’re getting used to it.”

“I heard about that,” Martha answered sympathetically. “Who do you think told the headmaster that?”

“I’ve no idea, but I suspect it was Tilly,” Donna started to ponder and then blushed at what Tilly had seen and must have thought. “How do you feel about it, Martha?”

“I em…” Martha battled with her misgivings. “I worried about John, of course, to be honest. He erm…”

“He what?” queried John as he appeared with a plate of biscuits and an unopened box of Maltesers. He glared at her to move on the settee and frowned when she scooted even closer to Donna rather than away. Pouting, he plonked himself down after putting his goodies on the coffee table.

“You must admit, John, that it was a bit stupid to let the headmaster make that announcement,” she pointed with a smile.

“That’s easy for you to say! I thought he was going to formally welcome us to the school,” he said.

“And I thought he was going to say something about the school buying a new photocopier,” added Donna. “Especially after my accident yesterday.”

“Ah, that!” John grinned knowingly. “Have you had any problem with your hand since?”

“No, it’s fine,” Donna answered, holding up her right hand in demonstration. 

Martha’s doctor senses instantly sprung into life. “Do you want me to have a look?” The words were out of her mouth and she had a hold of Donna’s hand before she knew what was happening. Going with the flow, she examined Dona’s hand and found no lasting harm. “I started off studying medicine,” she excused her behaviour.

Donna quickly retrieved her hand. “Did you? What caused you to change your mind and do teaching? It can’t have been the money,” she asked.

“It was erm… an unexpected turn of events. I got persuaded away,” Martha replied cautiously.

“Oh, blokes tend to do that,” Donna said knowingly. When Martha didn’t respond she knew she had hit the nail on the head; and it wasn’t too hard to guess who the bloke was either judging by the way Martha was deliberately playing gooseberry. Nobody was that thick to accidentally do so. With a sigh she resigned herself to the fact this might be a long evening.

“Did you decide what film we’re watching?” John’s question brought her out of her thoughts.

She handed him a box. “I thought The Princess and the Frog seemed right,” she said as she did so.

“Good choice,” he agreed as he got down on the floor to open the DVD player. “I love Disney films!” 

She chuckled. “I had sort of gathered that.”

John sat to the side as the disc began play, waiting for the chance to start the film properly.

In her eagerness to watch the film, Martha didn’t spot him crawl closer to Donna until he was leaning back against her legs and had a hand resting on Donna’s knee. She did spot Donna threading her fingers through his hair, petting him. Her heart beats fluttered; what on earth was she supposed to do to stop this? She couldn’t exactly fling herself between them, could she? “These biscuits are nice, John. Have you got anymore?” she asked to distract him away.

“I left them out on the kitchen worktop. Go and help yourself,” he instantly answered, unwillingly to move from his position on the floor.

There was only one thing Martha could do next, so she got up and went to get biscuits she no longer fancied.

John eagerly got up then and sat down next to Donna with a gleeful sigh. “While you are up, don’t you think you ought to check where your mum is?” he called out to Martha. “She might be waiting outside with your key.”

Oh great! Now she had to pretend to phone her mum; so Martha slunk about in the kitchen.

“Do you think I should go home? We can try and do this another time,” Donna offered him in a whisper.

“No! You are staying here and we will have this date by hook or by crook,” John insisted, whispering back. “We’ll embarrass her away if necessary.”

“How would we do that?” she wondered, keen to see him act forcefully.

John was beginning to enjoy this turn of events, and smirked at her.


	7. Chapter 7

When Martha walked back into the lounge after leaving enough time for her pretend phonecall, John was sat where she had hoped he wouldn’t be, embracing Donna. She sat herself sulkily on the end of the settee, thinking of how annoyed the Doctor would be in the future that she hadn’t prevented this.

After another half an hour of sitting there next to a canoodling couple Martha’s phone went off with a text stating what how much credit was still on it. She used the opportunity to pretend it was her mum with a spare key and excused herself from their company. Once inside her own flat, Martha sat down and tried to devise a plan to open that pocket watch before the Doctor did something really stupid.

The problem was that John was determined to do that ‘really stupid’. As soon as he closed his front door he drew Donna near. “Now where did we get up to before we were so rudely interrupted?” he purred at her.

She smiled coyly back. “I believe we were discussing the finer points of the industrialisation of London during the eighteenth century and its effects on the economic growth.”

“You’ve been peeking at my worksheets!” he accused her with a smug grin playing about his features.

“I might have glanced at them,” Donna admitted. “What have you been peeking at?”

He ran a finger along her collar bone and keenly watched its progress. “I’m not sure I should own up to it,” he confessed in a low voice.

“If you can’t tell your pretend wife then who can you tell?” she teased him.

“Donna, I really want to kiss you!” he declared.

“Then, my dear John, I shall grant you three wishes,” she promised as she snaked her arms up to entwine her hands behind his head. “Here comes the first one.”

Breathing deeply and steadily, she reached up across the small distance between them and placed her lips upon his mouth.

Parting his lips slightly, he moved over her mouth, pressing with delicate touches before taking his time to taste ad smooth her tongue, her teeth, the roof of her mouth; everything and anything he could reach. She sucked on his tongue, making him groan loudly and undulate against her. He broke from her momentarily to suggest, “Let’s go lay down somewhere together.”

John led Donna through to the lounge and back to the settee; ignoring the television that was now playing something else. Instantly he tenderly cradled her face to start off a kiss they shared and both built on, leading towards something much more passionate. 

Donna broke from him long enough to undo his shirt buttons, desperate to run her hands over his skin. She giggled as she shoved the shirt off his shoulders because he was at that point tackling the buttons of her blouse with eager fingers. She wasn’t giggling anymore by the time he had removed her blouse and had his sights set on her bra, because her mouth was preoccupied by the talented efforts of his mouth and tongue to seduce and arouse.

It was as he started to pay her breasts particular attention, using tender touches and soft kisses, that his phone rang thus destroying the moment. He swore loudly, reluctantly released Donna and pressed the answer button. “Hello,” he gruffly queried the caller.

“John, it’s me, Martha. I’m phoning because you really should reconsider this evening with Donna,” Martha forced out down the phone before he could say anything else.

“You have got to be kidding me! What bizarre excuse have you thought up now?” John demanded of her.

“It’s not what you think, honest it isn’t. I know you think a lot of her and that’s why I’m doing this. You think I don’t know about the alter ego you dream about called the Doctor; but I do, and he is inside you waiting to return,” she said.

John blanched. “That’s got nothing to do with you,” he retorted.

“It has! It’s got everything to do with me because I’m supposed to protect you until the Doctor comes back,” Martha stated.

“Look Martha, I am not going to argue the toss about some character in a book I’ve written. I’m sure you think you are doing the right thing but I don’t need protecting; unless it is from you and your constant need to stop me from having my date with Donna,” John told her.

“Please Doctor, you have got to listen to me,” Martha cried.

John huffed angrily. “My name is John, not Doctor. Good night, Martha. If you try this again our friendship is over; and it is on very dodgy ground as it is!” With that he ended the call and returned his attention to a bemused Donna. 

Seeing his demeanour, she did nothing more than engulf him in a comforting hug. “So you write books,” she softly queried. “I didn’t know that.”

“Only the one,” was the muffled answer from somewhere against her hair. “Do you want to see it?”

“I’d love to, if you’d show me. Would I be able to understand it, or does it have too much of a Stephen Hawking vibe?” she wondered.

He chuckled. “Nowhere near as intelligent or anything like that. It’s a piece of science fiction about a man who travels in time. Like in HG Wells but he also travels to other planets,” he explained.

“Is he as good looking as Rod Taylor?” she asked mischievously. “Because if he is then I’d read it.”

“Well, I’ve sort of based him on me. I often dream of his possible adventures,” John continued. “He meets all sorts of aliens.”

Donna pretended to think on this one. “Looks just like you...? The main character looks like the back end of a bus; what a shame! Now if you’d based him on someone good looking, like Johnny Depp...” She didn’t get the chance to finish her saucy tirade because John was determined to stop her, and decided to do so by proving how attractive she found him.

“I could show you my notes if you like. They’re in the bedroom,” he offered breathlessly.

“Makes a change from being shown someone’s etchings,” she joked. “And my little history man might be a sci-fi man.”

 

John was warring with himself as he pulled out the book that held all his thoughts and ideas from where he’d ensconced it in his bedside cabinet. Would Donna think he was a complete idiot for having these alien inspired ideas; would she ultimately reject him? With a great deal of trepidation he handed the book to her as she sat on his bed. It hadn’t escaped his notice that she was still half naked as she sat there, and manfully tried to ignore the fact. Or should that be manfully reacted to that fact? Anyway, he waited with baited breath to see what her reaction would be.

Donna sat dutifully on the bed and flicked through the pages. She didn’t know what she had expected beyond having to be supportive, but what she saw amazed her! His ideas were fantastic, about other worlds, aliens and people his character the Doctor met. Not only were his descriptions included but he had fully illustrated it all with a style that showed a great deal of talent. There were several faces that she didn’t know from Adam, but the picture of Martha was uncannily accurate; and then right at the end she recognised one of herself. “Blimey! You put me in,” she said in disbelief. “Why did you put my ugly mug in with all these fantastic things?”

“Why wouldn't I?” he asked, equally astounded that she would wonder such a thing. “You feature in my dreams and he is so in love with you it’s ridiculous.”

“He is?!” Donna moved her head closer to his as they sat on the bed. “Why would he do such a stupid thing? This Doctor could have any woman that he clicked his fingers at.”

John moved in on her. “Then I’d better not let him click his fingers or anything else at you,” he answered, “because I want you all to myself.”

“You don’t write greetings cards on the side, do you?” she mocked self-deprecatingly.

He pretended to pout. “Oh no! You’ve found out my guilty secret. I’m really Patience Strong.”

“Thought I recognised the dress sense.” She swept her gaze down his body, and reached out to him. “John, I don’t do gush very well.”

He smiled back at her in amusement. “I had noticed, funnily enough.”

“In that case, be gentle with me,” she pleaded quietly.

“Always,” he promised sincerely.

 

He trailed a finger slowly down her bare arm and down to her hip. “Don’t! That tickles,” she chastised him.

“No it doesn’t,” he mischievously contradicted.

She briefly kissed him. “I’ll be right back,” she consoled, slinking away from him as he lay on the bed.

He lazily watched her naked form almost glide across the room, enjoying the way the moonlight highlighted her pale skin.

When Donna returned to the bedroom he was standing gazing out the window at the urban landscape beyond, deep in dark thoughts; so she wrapped herself around him from behind and kissed his shoulder. “Flashing the neighbours to give them a cheap thrill, eh? What’s the matter, John? Did I do something wrong?”

He raised her forearm from where it rested across his chest and kissed it fondly. “Nothing to do with you, gorgeous! It’s just that... sometimes I feel that I don’t quite belong here, Donna. It’s as if I should be somewhere else doing something far more important.”

"I thought standing around naked was a worthwhile job…! But seriously, you are helping the next generation become what they want to be. What could be more important than that?” she reasoned.

John turned slowly in her embrace. “What did I do to deserve you in my life?”

“Sent in the right amount of coupons, perhaps? Anyway, I’m the lucky one since you’re the first intelligent sexy bloke to ever look at me twice; well, when I say that I mean directly in the face. I’m as thick as two short planks,” Donna argued.

“You are no such thing!” he protested. With great deliberation he kissed the end of her nose. “You, Donna Noble, are perfect.”

She snorted her derision. “Yes but perfect at what? Making a right cods of my life.”

“Not so long ago you walked into my life, literally dazzling me into realising how lost I was without you. Now would you please stop forcing me to gush at you like this! I’ll end up proposing if I’m not careful,” he playfully complained.

She wiped her thumb along his lip and made a twisting, locking motion. “Gushing officially halted. Good grief you’re already in a pretend engagement; we can’t have you accidentally going the whole hog. Martha would have a pink fit for a start!”

“What’s this got to do with Martha?” he questioned, pouting adorably. 

“Really? You’re playing that game?!” she queried incredulously. “Though why am I surprised? You are clearly delusional most of the time.”

“What do I do the rest of the time?” he wondered.

“That’s when I get to play with you,” she answered, gathering him closer so that she could kiss his lips. “Just let me know when you have another free moment for me.”

“Anytime; you’ll always have first dibs,” he assured her; and hungrily kissed her in return.

 

Martha sat fretfully in her flat. There was no other way to describe it; she had failed in her task to keep the Doctor safe from the effects of love as a human. Would he ever forgive her inability to stop him taking this step? And what sort of affect would it have on Donna when it was revealed that the Doctor was not the man she thought he was? This was not going to end well, and she hated this sense of foreboding.


	8. Chapter 8

“Donna, isn’t it time we met this new young man of yours?” Sylvia quizzed her. “Or are you ashamed of me and your dad?”

“Of course I’m not ashamed! Whatever made you think that?!” Donna protested.

“The fact you haven’t let us see him, obviously,” Sylvia retorted. “Why don’t you bring him round for Sunday dinner? Your dad would love to find out all about this John.”

Donna scowled at her. “And what would you like to do with him? I’m warning you, Mum, don’t mess this up for me.”

Sylvia snorted her derision. “I could only ruin things if he isn’t serious about you; so don’t talk wet!”

“Alright, I’ll invite him round,” Donna said resignedly. “What time Sunday do you want him to show up?”

“Make it noon,” her mother replied.

“Why does that have such an ominous ring to it?” Donna asked.

“Stop being such a drama queen! And none of your antics, missy,” Sylvia warned her.

 

John turned up at the Noble house bright and early, in order to impress and save Donna from any grief. His relief was tangible when it was Donna who answered the door, and she ushered him in. “I wasn’t sure whether to bring a gift or not, so I played safe with this...,” he said, showing Donna the bottle of white wine he had bought.

Donna kissed his cheek gratefully. “Mum will be happy with anything so you’ve already made her day. Come through and meet everyone.” She grasped his hand, noting how nervously he shook, and led him further into the house. “This is Gramps, my granddad... and this is Mum,” she introduced him. “This is John.”

“Nice to meet you, lad. You can call me Wilf,” her Gramps greeted John with a firm shake of the hand.

Sylvia was more reticent when she took John’s outstretched hand. “Hello, I’m Sylvia,” she told him.

There was much smiling before John realised he was still holding his gift, so he blustered his apology and passed the bottle to a delighted Sylvia. “Isn’t he thoughtful!” she muttered to Donna. “Go and show him to your dad while I finish off dinner with Dad’s help.”

Up until that point Donna had been hesitant to do so without her mother’s permission, so she held out her hand to John. “Come and meet Dad. He’s up in the bedroom.”

John found himself being taken up the stairs and shown into the main bedroom. “Hello,” he instantly greeted the frail man lying in the bed.

“Dad, this is John,” Donna proudly introduced them. “He’s the history teacher I told you all about.”

John gladly accepted Donna’s dad’s feeble handshake. “Sorry about not being able to get up,” Geoff quickly excused himself, nodding towards the bed. “I’ve been under the weather for a while now. Our Donna has said some lovely things about you.”

“Oh!” John instantly blushed a deep red. “I hope some of it is close to the truth,” he said modestly.

Donna told possessive hold of his arm. “No, not a word of it was anywhere near,” she teased.

Geoff chuckled. “You’ve got to watch her, she can big you up without a backward glance,” he told John. “Donna, can you get me some fresh cold water?” he suddenly asked.

“Of course, Dad,” she immediately agreed and raced downstairs to do so.

Geoff watched her cautiously and then spoke softly to John. “I know you’ve only been together for five minutes, but would you promise me something?”

“I’ll try to,” John answered, wondering where this was going.

“Look after her for me. I know she seems strong, and she takes care of everyone else; but sometimes she needs taking care of more than anyone; not that she’d ever admit it!” Geoff explained.

It didn’t seem too much of a hard decision for John to agree to keep an eye on Donna; after all his secret plans all revolved around her anyway.

“You’d better not have been giving him the third degree,” Donna warned her father when she reappeared a minute later.

“Oh no! I have no intention of scaring this one off,” he consoled her; and John and Donna shared a relieved smile.

Once Sylvia had taken up Geoff his dinner on a tray, and they’d sat watching him eat some of it before he’d given up after gamely attempting to finish the meal, they made their way back downstairs and tackled their own meal.

“Donna said you’re only at the school until Christmas, like her,” Wilf started up a conversation with John. “Where are you off to after that?”

John reluctantly admitted, “I have no idea yet. It all depends what I am offered. Hopefully I will hear by the end of October, but you never know in this game what will come up next.”

“Don’t you find it all rather unsettling, not knowing where you will be or what you will be doing next term?” Sylvia asked him.

“Not at all! I rather like the flexibility and spontaneity of it all. Life can get boring otherwise,” John replied.

“See! I’m not the only one who likes temporary jobs,” Donna took the opportunity to stress a point she had often made to her mother.

Sylvia shrugged her shoulders. “It just doesn’t seem a good way to carry on, if you ask me. Especially if you ever want to have children together.”

“Who said we’re having children?!” Donna spluttered. “Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, Mum. You’re almost as bad as the kids at school.”

“Been giving you both some grief, have they?” Wilf asked mischievously.

“I’ll say!” John agreed. “But it’s been fun, hasn’t it?” he asked Donna, adding in a cheeky wink.

“What on earth have they said?” Sylvia innocently wondered.

John went straight into a list of things said without thinking to clear it with Donna. “They’ve had me dating someone else, cheating on her, leading Donna astray, we’ve apparently eloped, ending up with an illegal marriage; and the latest is that we are secretly married with a baby on the way!”

“Baby? When did they come out with that one?” Donna immediately quizzed him.

“Didn’t you hear that one? Yes, the year eights have you a few weeks pregnant and they’ve started offering me possible names to call it. So far the most requested name is Justin if it’s a boy, and Whitney for a girl. I should have sold raffle tickets for it in hindsight; I’d have made a fortune for Children In Need,” John breezily explained.

Sylvia looked horrified. “They say that sort of thing to teachers these days? That’s terrible! When I was young you would never have dreamt of saying such a thing. It’s not even as if Donna has had the chance to get pregnant given the short time you’ve known each other.”

She mistook Donna and John’s embarrassed laugh as pertaining to what the kids had come out with. “True, kids are less respectful these days; but they do make it fun at times too,” John commented, and then felt it best if he left it at that.

 

Donna regarded the poster on the staffroom noticeboard with many misgivings. “What do you say to going to the sixth form’s Halloween dance? It could be fun,” John tried to entice her. “You did say you wanted to dress up and go somewhere together.”

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s another school thing so you’d be on duty again,” she argued; but there was no protection against those puppy dog eyes of his. “Oh all right! I’ll go, but don’t expect me to let every lecherous sixth form boy try out his chat up techniques on me.”

“They’d better bloody not! I’ll have the little buggers’ guts for garters,” he complained jealously.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. No doubt you have a costume in mind,” she said. “If you make me the back end of any pantomime animal I swear I shall leave my handprint on your face for weeks to come.”

“As if I’d do that,” he consoled her. “Especially when stage makeup can hide so much these days.” It was only by sheer luck that he caught her hand before it made contact with soft tissue.

 

“This is ridiculous! Remind me again why I let you talk me into this,” Donna griped loudly as she adjusted her costume around her torso.

“Because you look beautiful,” John said once he had managed to get his pointed false teeth to sit properly in his mouth so that he could actually speak.

“Fangs for that,” she quipped. “That’s easy for you to say; but I’ve got to go out in public like this and I’m not sure hormonal seventeen year old boys are the ideal audience. Heck, I’d be worried about Gramps’ silver cloak rabble seeing me!” She continued to prod and poke at her neckline. “Surely this can be classed as indecent?”

“Oh for the love of...! You look terrific, you know you do; so stop whinging and enjoy a night out away from your mother for a change,” he moaned in return. “Just think how bad it is for me to spend all evening only being able to look at you.”

She patted his cheek patronisingly. “Nice try, history boy. You almost had me believing you for a few seconds.”

“Worth a try,” he added.

“Oh definitely,” she agreed.

 

James took his school duties as head boy very seriously; so it was with pride that he stood at the entrance of the sixth form dance. “How are you tonight, Mr and Mrs Smith?” he greeted them when he saw them appear.

“Fine thank you, Oliver,” John answered, deliberately getting his name wrong in return. He may let them get away with calling Donna ‘Mrs Smith’ but he felt duty bound to show them that he didn’t like it.

The head boy merely smirked in response, until he noticed Donna’s costume as she removed her coat and his eyes nearly popped out of his head! “Who have you come as, miss?” he stammered.

“I thought you said it would be obvious we were Gomez and Morticia Addams,” she admonished John. “I needn’t have frozen my bits off like this.”

John opened his mouth to comment on her bits, but thought better of it, so he quickly shut it again. Instead he felt it was best that he reply, “Come, my love, and let me get you a drink.”

“Work work work,” she joked to the head boy, and swept into the room beyond.

It all looked like a typical school dance to Donna; lots of wall flowers, loads of boys too embarrassed to ask a girl to dance, and a few confident couples. Thank God this time she was one of a couple there! As soon as she saw John get collared by a member of staff she sashayed across, seductively placed her arms around his neck and led him onto the dance floor, assured in the knowledge that he would willingly follow her if he knew what was good for him.

John breathed deeply as Donna moved against his body. “What are you trying to do to me, you minx?!”

“You’re the one that chose these outfits; I am merely a prop. If you’d rather I went and found someone else to do this with just say the word and I’ll go,” she offered, purring straight into his ear as she fought to ignore the way he made her feel. “I can just as easily take it all off.”

She was doing it to him again! Not that he hadn’t completely encouraged her. It had been part of the reason he had welcomed her into practically living with him. This was turning into the most wonderful period of his life. “Hold that thought until later, would you?” he breathily requested.

She bit down lightly on his earlobe, clinching the deal. “For you, darling, anything.”

 

Martha kept her attention on them despite chatting to fellow science teacher Wendy Gibson.

"You must be so pleased for your friend, John,” Wendy commented. “Unless they do all that smooching in front of you all the time.”

Martha forced herself to wryly chuckle. “It is a problem at times,” she admitted. “I hope for their sakes it can last.”

“What makes you think it won’t?” queried Wendy.

“The little matter of him not being what he seems,” Martha said before she could stop herself. “And Donna not really being the person he wants.”

“Oh!” Wendy exclaimed in shock. “Who is it she should be worried about?”

“A blonde who left him in the lurch. But take no notice of me; I’m sure Donna has nothing to worry about if she comes back,” Martha commented.

Wendy didn’t look convinced as she sipped anxiously on her drink.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** You might find this a bit angsty; but then you hopefully knew this would end sadly.

One of the girls joined the head boy to ask, “Is it me or is Mr Wilkins acting weird, James?”

“Funnily enough I was thinking that,” he replied. “Like a character out of Shaun Of The Dead.”

“In that case you’d better have a weapon to hand for when he bites you,” she playfully remarked.

He smiled back at her. “Fortunately I know where a cricket bat is hidden I can use to knock his block off. They don’t call me the head boy for nothing.”

She groaned. “Lame, that joke can hardly crawl,” she chastised him. “Although I think Mrs Smith is more likely to get bitten tonight,” she observed.

“If I was Mr Smith I’d bite her too,” James commented, and got hit on the arm for his cheek.

 

“Are you glad you came?” John asked Donna as they continued to cover their embrace by pretending they were dancing.

After giving it some thought, she replied, “Yes, it’s not been as bad as I expected; and you haven’t been taken away from me so I’m winning so far.”

“Sorry the kids are still calling you Mrs Smith,” he apologised.

“No, don’t be,” she insisted. “It’s like having a secret life for a while. Talking of possible secrets, I ought to tell you that I’m thinking of having your dad’s pocket watch repaired for you.”

He momentarily scowled. “I told you that it was a waste of time.”

“Apart from that being groan-worthy, the man in the jewellers said it was a rare piece that should be looked at,” she said conversationally.

“Donna, I said to ignore it!” he said fretfully. “Don’t bother!”

“Sh sh sh,” she consoled him, caressing his face lovingly. “I wanted to try and give you a little bit of your dad back, that’s all, but I’ll leave it if the thought upsets you so much.”

“Sorry,” he replied, lightly kissing her apologetically. “I just can’t bear...”

“I know, John,” she soothed him, and kissed him back briefly.

The briefness was caused by the fact that Donna was wrenched abruptly from his clasp. John found himself regarding Mr Wilkins the PE teacher holding Donna menacingly around the throat.

“What is this? The latest mess we’ve got ourselves into? Are you going to tell me that Donna is now being considered as your wife?” he tried to playfully say, wondering what this latest development was and hoping it was a Halloween jape.

“Get your mitts off me!” yelled Donna. “I’ve no idea what your game is, but I’m not part of the equipment, Sunshine.”

“You’d better do as she says, Wilkins, as she has a powerful slap. I learnt that one after I nicked some of her Pringles once,” John added.

“I don’t want her, I want you, Doctor; but I know you two come as a package,” Mr Wilkins said when he finally spoke.

“Doctor? Is this some book publicising exercise?” queried Donna.

“Nothing to do with me,” John assured her. “Stop playing silly buggers, Wilkins, and let her go!”

“Not until you agree to come with me, Doctor,” Wilkins stated.

Martha rushed over and reached them at this point. “Wilkins and the caretaker have already attacked three people outside, Doctor. You have to deal with this,” she warned him.

“What?! Are you as mad as he is? I’m not the Doctor; he’s just a character,” John protested.

Martha countered, “Then why are you frightened to open the pocket watch, Doctor? I’ve seen you fiddle with it and wonder what it means.”

John’s shock was added to when the caretaker appeared armed with a gun. Everybody else fled screaming, no longer convinced this was a hoax as John was left to stare him down. “Is this some sort of robbery?” he asked.

“We asked nicely, Doctor; but now we insist you and your wife come with us.” The caretaker then pointed the gun at Donna. “What is your answer?”

“What kind of monster comes into a school and threatens innocent children?” Donna asked scornfully. 

Mr Wilkins merely sniffed at her. “We are the Family of Blood.”

Something within John found that title awfully familiar, and a chill raced down his spine.

“Doctor, do something,” Martha beseeched him.

“I’m not the Doctor and I don’t know why they want me,” John repeated.

Martha threw Donna a pleading look to convince him to act. “He’ll do as you ask if you leave the children be and let him take his tablet,” Donna lied. “I’ve got the box in my bag.” To her relief they let her retrieve the pocket watch from her handbag and pass it over to John.

The item called out to him as it had never done so before. “Let her go and I’ll come willingly; but give me two minutes to say goodbye, please!”

As Wilkins released his hold on her and stepped back, Donna protested, “No John! I'm staying with you no matter what.”

John could feel his Time Lord essence trickling out, showing him the possible life he could have had with Donna, full of love, marriage and children; and all of it slipping away as his Time Lord self threatened to take it away if the Family of Blood didn’t kill him first. “I need to know you are safe before I decide what to do. You’ll never know how much I want to stay in our perfect little world,” he said quietly so that only she could hear.

“But you’re the Doctor, aren’t you,” she sadly stated. “Other people are more important. I should have known you wouldn’t be able to stay with me. It was all too good to be true. Go and do what’s right, for everyone.”

“I love you, Donna; please never forget that,” he whispered.

“I love you too, John. I’ll miss you.” She then allowed them to push her away, knowing in her heart that the Doctor would find a way to solve this but not believing for one second it would include a place for her in his life when it was achieved.

 

It was done. He had opened the fob watch before they had reached the Family’s spaceship, letting them think he was still vulnerable. Using the accident-prone persona he had perfected over the last few weeks, he had ‘fallen’ on some levers and accidentally on purpose overloaded the engines, causing the spaceship to blow up. He was not so kind to the ex-Mr Wilkins and the caretaker, letting their punishment encase them permanently within a sports hall wall and the toilet cisterns, respectively.

Martha waited for his return to the TARDIS, looking very anxious as he appeared. “What about Donna?” she wondered.

“I’m about to go and find her; I’ll be back soon,” he said calmly.

“Before you go, I’m sorry Doctor. I tried to stop it happening.” She stood hesitantly waiting for his answer.

“I know, Martha Jones. Thank you,” he stated simply. The hug he gave her was a huge relief for Martha.

 

The Doctor found Donna sitting forlornly on the steps outside the school with her coat loosely wrapped around her shoulders. She’d done all she could to help with anyone affected by the events of the evening, with acts of comfort, phone calls to parents and explanations where appropriate. There had been lots of questions about why the men had taken John away with them; and all she could answer was the fact that John was special enough to be picked and to cope. Where that left her at the end of it all was open to guess work. 

She’d seen the Doctor approaching her cautiously, and it was evident from her first glance that this was no longer the man she knew and loved. Everything about him was different, from his stance, his gait and the expression in his eyes. Only his features were the same. It was easy to believe this was the man who featured so prominently in John’s book. Martha had told her all about the Doctor and his evident love for no one except Rose; something she had suspected from reading about him. With those thoughts in mind, she steeled herself to meet the Doctor. 

“Hello, Donna Noble,” he greeted her, and sat down beside her on the steps, keeping a respectful distance.

“Hello, Doctor. It’s nice to finally meet you properly,” she replied. “Did you blow them all up or kill them in a different way?”

He looked momentarily worried before he admitted, “Neither... although there was a bit of an explosion when their ship blew up.”

She smiled in understanding, remembering the adventures she had read. “What happened to them? Will they come back?”

“No. I’ve imprisoned them, so you’re safe now,” he answered.

She looked down at her fingers toying with the material of the skirt of her costume. “I suppose safe is good for the time being.” She risked a quick glance at him. “This is the part where you ride off into the sunset with Martha to right a wrong somewhere else, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t have to be like that. You could come too,” he gently offered.

She tried to surreptitiously sniff back a tear, glad that he had been thoughtful to the very end. “You know I can’t do that, what with the way Dad is and you not being John anymore.”

He reached over and took her hand. “John Smith is still here inside me.”

She opened her mouth to protest. “But I can’t be in your heart in the same way; I get that, I really do. One day I’ll be able to live with it, and I’ll need your friendship when Dad...”

He gave her hand a consoling squeeze. “Until one day, Donna Noble,” he said, and stood up to leave.

“Say goodbye to Martha for me,” she requested as he turned to go. “Goodbye, Doctor.”

When he was far enough away not to hear her, Donna added, “I’ll always love you, John. God, how will I live without you?”

She would never know that he had heard every word.

 

Donna staggered in exhaustedly through the front door of her mother’s home, feeling anxious beyond words. “Mum?! Mum! Where are you? Is it Dad?” she called out and almost fainted with fright when a paramedic appeared at the top of the stairs.

She had returned home numb with shock only to find an ambulance sitting outside her home. That only meant one thing in her mind: the worse was happening.

“I’m up here!” called back Sylvia just before she emerged from her bedroom door. “Your dad had a really bad turn so I called for an ambulance.”

Several fretful hours followed sitting in a hospital corridor, holding her mother’s hand in support as the spiral progressed further down.

It was only much later that Sylvia even thought to ask, “Why were you home early? What’s happened to John? You’ve not mentioned him once, and you usually go on as if he’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

“I erm... I didn’t want to tell you yet, Mum. That there were these blokes who turned up to the dance with guns,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Oh my God! Was anyone hurt?” Sylvia cried out in shock.

All Donna could momentarily do was nod her head. There was no way to avoid this painful subject since it would be in every single newspaper the following morning. “I lost him. John died, Mum!” she wailed. “They took him away from me; and I lost him!”

For one of the few times Donna could remember in her adult life she was hugged by her mother, and they shared their grief as they both lost the man they loved most in life.

 

It was some weeks later that Donna knew for certain that she had to escape her lonely life. Things had become impossible with her mother; so much bitterness wasn’t good for their relationship. Donna knew she hadn’t been there as much as she could have been at the end of her dad’s life, but it didn’t make her mother's recriminations any easier to deal with. She had hoped that her possible growing secret would have given her a new focus for all her love; but those hopes were dashed within a short time when it was clear she would not be allowed to keep her small piece of John, so she eventually resolved to seek out the Doctor. This time, if she found him, she wouldn’t mess it up. She knew the score now, and she knew the rules of the game; she had read them in John’s journal. If she was lucky she could become his friend; she’d decided it was worth the risk.


End file.
